With help of coal tax credits, Mylan had a negative 294-percent tax rate in 2016

Enlarge / Heather Bresch, chief executive officer of Mylan Inc, in 2015, the year the company underwent a tax inversion. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg)

While reviewing Mylan's tax filings, Reuters dug up an intriguing investment by the pharmaceutical company: refined coal.

Since 2011, the company has purchased 99-percent stakes in five US companies that process coal to make it cleaner burning. Mylan then sells the coal at a tax-deductible loss and earns tax credits, intended to incentivize cleaner energy production. Over the last six years, the drug maker has earned hundreds of millions in tax credits that have lowered its already very low tax rate and raised its overall bottom line.

According to Reuters, the credits helped Mylan lower its tax rate to just over four percent in 2014 and to 7.4 percent in 2015. Also that year, the company underwent a tax inversion, moving its headquarters from the US to the Netherlands, to further slash its tax rate. In 2016, the company had a $358 million tax benefit, giving it an effective tax rate of negative 294 percent.

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